Early adopters in countries like Morocco, Algeria and Palestine have a more strongly developed and time-tested hip-hop scene—but across the greater Arab world, hip-hop has risen up alongside folk anthems as a revolutionary soundtrack. And in the Western world, Arab diaspora rap preoccupies itself with questions of Eastern and Western dislocated identity.

The civil unrest that erupted in Syria in March last year has left the country's scientific community in turmoil, researchers say. Heavy cuts have been made to research budgets, and work at the majority of Syria's universities and research centres has ground to a halt.

The debate over the role of the international community in Syria is disheartening, dominated by skepticism about the ability of outsiders to have a positive impact. This stems from the fact that two main options – continuing to refrain from direct intervention or waging a fully fledged military campaign...

“There will be increasingly capable opposition forces. They will — from somewhere, somehow — find the means to defend themselves as well as begin offensive measures. And the pressure will build on countries like Russia and China because world opinion is not going to stand idly by.”

Thanks to the marvels of modern technology, members of the resistance movement inside Syria were able to have a secure conversation last week with a small group of foreign-policy mavens in Washington, D.C. What they told us boils down to this: A revolution is under way.

In yet another display of democracy and "People Power," the unarmed protestors in Syria have set off two bombs in Damascus...The US media -- even some alternative and antiwar sources -- do not bother to exercise even a touch of skepticism when the rebels who seek regime change in Syria...

U.S. ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, who has made a name for himself in recent weeks for his risky visits to remote cities where a popular anti-government uprising has grown violent and deadly, posted a message on Facebook late Thursday...

As one of the first countries to recognize the National Transitional Council, Qatar supplied the rebels with arms, uniforms, and $400 million in aid, while also helping the rebels sell their oil. Not least, Qatar provided invaluable moral support with its exhaustive coverage of the rebels on the Al Jazeera TV network, the emir’s powerful public diplomacy wing.